An Englishman dubbed “Silent Man” has caused numerous traffic jams in his home city of Swansea over the last seven years by simply standing in the middle of traffic. Because he never says a word, no one has any idea why he does it.

Ever since 2014, David Hampson has repeatedly hindered traffic by standing in the middle of the road, in the exact same spot. The 51-year-old is subject to a criminal behavior order which forbids him from obstructing any public highway in England and Wales, but judging by his past action, he doesn’t care much about such accusations. In 2018, Hampson was sentenced to three years in prison for blocking the road in exactly the same spot as always, just outside the Swansea Central Police Station. And just as always, he refused to offer any explanation, or say anything else for that matter. The same thing happened the last time he decided to block the road, in December of 2020. Now he faces criminal charges.

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Because Silent Man has never once talked to anyone about his motives for constantly blocking traffic in the exact same place every few months, no one has any idea why he does it. Witnesses, including police officers, recently told a Swansea court that Hampson “can 100% talk”, and one even described him as a very polite man who would say “thank you” after getting what he had asked for.

David Hampson has already been jailed nine times for causing repeated traffic jams with his antics over the last seven years, but he continues to do it. Even when he eventually gets handcuffed and arrested, he refuses to offer any kind of motive for his actions.

“Either Mr Hampson is going to spend the rest of his life in prison or something is done to help him with what are clearly deep-seated problems,” Judge Paul Thomas said during a recent hearing. “The court wants to help him rather than punish him – whether he is willing to help us do that is another matter.”

The judge ordered a psychiatric report of Hampson’s action, but the accused refused to speak to the doctors. He also asked for his medical records to be handed over to doctors, in the hopes of finding answers to the two enigmas – why he consistently blocks traffic in the same spot, and why he refuses to speak about it.

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During a recent hearing, the court heard that David Hampson can talk, he just refuses to do so. His sentence is scheduled for August 31.